Results

The local progression free rate at 2 years was 74.2%. The 2 year overall survival was 66.8%. The most frequently reported acute side effects (≥grade 3) in TPF induction phase were neutropenia (37.5%) and hyponatremia (28.1%) and 5 patients withdrew after the first cycle of TPF due mostly to fatigue. During IMRT, the most common acute side effect (≥grade 3) was mucositis (23.0%). So far, 12.5% patients had died of cancer. Temporal lobe necrosis (TLN) developed in 8 cases and 5 patients died due to treatment related complications (2 epistaxis, 1 TLN, 1 sudden death after cycle 1 TPF and 1 chest infection after completion of whole course of treatment).

Conclusions

In this preliminary analysis, induction TPF appears to be poorly tolerated. Promising early local control and survival rates achieved after intensive chemo-re-irradiation should be carefully weighed against the occurrence of potentially lethal early toxicities and late complications.